The authors, who have more than two decades of combined experience teaching an atoms-first course, have gone beyond reorganizing the topics. They emphasize the particulate nature of matter throughout the book in the text, art, and problems, while placing the chemistry in a biological, environmental, or geological context. The authors use a consistent problem-solving model and provide students with ample opportunities to practice.

An atoms-focused approach

The atoms-focused approach helps students better understand how the properties of substances are directly linked to their atomic and molecular structures. The authors start with the smallest particles of matter and assemble them into more elaborate structures: from subatomic particles to single atoms, all the way to truly gigantic polymers. By constructing this layered particulate view of matter, students will visualize the underlying chemistry of a wide range of substances and the changes they undergo. They will also understand why elements combine to form compounds with particular formulas and why substances react with each other the way they do.

A consistent, easy-to-remember problem-solving strategy

To be successful in general chemistry, students must be able to solve problems. COAST (Collect and Organize, Analyze, Solve, and Think about it) is an easy-to-remember problem-solving strategy, which is introduced in the first chapter and used consistently throughout the book, ancillaries, and homework system. Each chapter includes one Integrating Concepts Sample Exercise—a multi-step, multi-concept Sample Exercise. These challenging examples also use COAST to model how to solve more complex problems, training students for challenging problems on an exam.

A flexible tool for all types of learners

Students use their chemistry textbook in different ways. For students who read a chapter from beginning to end, each chapter is written in an environmental, biological, or geological context (or theme) that makes the chemistry relevant and memorable. Approximately 20% of the end-of-chapter problems are Contextual Problems, which use real data, and place the chemistry in a real-world context. Students who use the book as a reference will benefit from the learning system in each chapter. Problem-Solving Summaries at the end of each chapter are a guide to the types of problems in the chapter and provide a reference back to the appropriate Sample Exercise that models how to solve that type of problem. Sample Exercises are connected to the Learning Outcomes for each chapter so students can connect their problem-solving ability to the Learning Outcomes.

SmartWork: created by chemistry educators, for chemistry educators

SmartWork is the most intuitive online tutorial and homework system available for chemistry. Every question provides hints and answer-specific feedback—all using the COAST model. A drawing tool and an intuitive equation editor make it easy for students to input answers, and each problem links directly to the appropriate page in the ebook so students have an instant reference. SmartWork offers more than 3,000 questions—including original multistep tutorials, visual and graphing problems, ranking task problems, reaction visualization problems, and math review problems. Instructors can easily edit existing questions or create new ones, and can filter questions by learning objectives.

Ample opportunity for practice

Practice Exercises, found at the end of each Sample Exercise, encourage students to practice a similar problem on their own to build confidence and assess their understanding. In the interactive eBook (which is free with every new copy of the text), Practice Exercises become live, algorithmically generated (where possible) SmartWork problems, giving students penalty-free practice opportunities and coaching with hints and answer-specific feedback.

An emphasis on assessment

All of the questions in SmartWork are associated with learning objectives—a fine-grain version of the Learning Outcomes at the beginning of each chapter—making it easy for instructors to tailor digital content to fit their course goals.